President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday made their first joint appearance since her election loss when they observed Veterans Day together, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. They then went to the cemetery's memorial amphitheater, where Biden honored the service and sacrifice of America's military veterans and their families. It was the final time Biden was to speak there while commander in chief of the US military, the AP reports.
"It's been the greatest honor of my life, to lead you, to serve you, to care for you, to defend you, just as you defended us, generation after generation after generation," the president said. "You are the greatest fighting force, and this is not hyperbole, the finest fighting force in the history of the world." Biden announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs is expanding the types of cancers covered under the PACT Act, legislation he signed to expand health care services for veterans who served at military bases where toxic smoke billowed from "burn pits" that incinerated garbage and other waste. The president opened his brief remarks by stating that America's "truly sacred obligation" is to prepare those it sends into harm's way and care for them when they come home, or don't.
The president's son Beau served in the Delaware Army National Guard and deployed to Iraq in 2008 for about a year. He died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46. The president and first lady hosted veterans and members of the military community at the White House before they, along with Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, departed for the hallowed burial ground across the Potomac River from Washington. It was the first time that Biden and Harris had been seen together in public since the vice president lost last week's election to President-elect Trump, per the AP, though Biden had spoken to both Trump and Harris by phone.
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